Fire extinguisher



O 22, 1 w. 1.. ROESSNER FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed July 7, 195a latentedOct. 22, 1940 UNITED STATE FIRE EXTHWGUISHEB William L. Bioessnealknver,Cola, assignor to Bertha L. MacGregor, as trustee Application July '1,1938, Serial N0. 217,879

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a fire extinguisher, and ismore particularly directed to a hand grenade type containing a chemicalsuch as carbon tetra-chloride or the like, and having thermo-responsivemeans coacting therewith for the automatic release of the chemical whensubiected to a predetermined degree of heat.

Heretoiore, various types of grenades havev been manufactured, but havebeen found to be rather cumbersome to handle when a manual operation wasdesired, as for instance when the grenades were located in aparticular'place and the fire started at another place, the grenades hadto be bodily carried to the fire to extinguish ii the same, orthrown inthat direction. It is to facilitate the handling or the grenades formanual operations that this invention is directed. The construction issuch that the grenade may be easily and readily gripped and thrown acongo siderable distance when manually operated,

eliminating the necessity ofa person approaching too closely to a firewhile at the same time being eflective to smother the same.

A grenade. constructed in this manner for as manual and automaticoperations is arranged to be suspended vertically or horizontally andautomatically released to be discharged while suspended when apredetermined degree of heat is attained or the grenade may be readilyand easily removed from its suspended position and is provided with ahand grip by which it is held to be thrown a considerable distance.

When thrown, the impact imparted to the grenade will cause the same tobreak and release a chemical therein to smother the fire, and

should the grenade be thrown on a soft substance where its impact shouldby chance not cause the same to break and release the chemical, thethermo-responsive means when heated to the 0 proper temperature willeffect the breaking of the grenade and the release of the chemical.

The chief objects of the present invention are the provision of a handtype of grenade containing a fire extinguishing liquid, and arranged tobe suspended vertically or horizontally, and having thermo-responsivecrashing means releasable when subjected to a predetermined degree ofheat. I

t A further-object is the provision of a. grenade having a handlearranged to be manually gripped whereby the grenade may be thrown aconsiderable distance and with a thermo-responsive means operable tocrash the grenade when sub- 66 iected to a predetermined degree of heatwhen said grenade is not crashed by the impact when thrown.

And a further object is the provision of a con-' tainer arranged andconstructed to retain a fragile grenade of volatile chemical and havingmeans thereon whereby it may be manually gripped for throwing the same.

A still further object is the provision of .a container providing a handgrip and means for retaining a grenade of volatile chemical including 10thermo-responsive means releasable to crash thegrenade and release thechemical when subjected to a predetermined degree of heat.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of bodying my improvements.

Figure 2 is a medial longitudinal sectional view taken substantially onthe line 2-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail plan sectional view taken on the line 3-4 ofFigure 1. I 20 Figure 4 is a detail plan sectional view taken on theline 4-4 of Figure 1.

-Figure 5 is a side elevation partially broken away of a modified formof grenade; and

Figure 6 is an'enlarged detail perspective view 25 of the fasteningmeans of Figure 5 for retaining the grenade in the container.

The reference numeral l0 designates a container as a whole, which ispreferably constructed of two hollow portions comprising a top hollow 3oportion ll anda bottom hollow portion I! each arranged with a screwthread at i3 and I, respectively, for threading the upper and lowerhollow portions II and I2 together. These hollow portions provide arelatively large opening in 35 the container ill for inserting a grenadeI! which A is preferably of glass or other fragile material andhermetically sealed to contain a volatile chemical, such as carbontetra-chloride or the like. The lower end of the bottom portion I2 is 0preferably reduced to form a tubular handle it and that portion whichextends upwardly from the handle forms a seat or rest H on which thegrenade I5 is positioned so that when the upper hollow portion H isthreaded to the lower hollow portion l2, the grenade l5 will be securelyheld and retained in position. i

The tubular handle it retains a bullet i8 which is loosely positionedfor sliding movements therein and a strap I! which is of U-formationextends around a pin 20 secured in the bullet. This strap l9 extendsthrough anopening 2| in a cap 22 and has a thermo-responsive element 21'secured thereto outwardly of the cap 22. A compression spring 24surrounds the strap is and is u a grenade em- 15 interposed between thebullet l8 and the cap 22 to exert a constant pressure against thebullet.

The bullet l8 and cap 22 with the strap I9 and spring 24 comprise a unitwhich is inserted into the handle l6 and when inserted, the cap 22 isthen secured at 25--25 to the handle. While the unit is in position, thespring 24 constantly urges bullet l8 toward the grenade I5.

The handle I6 is provided with a plurality of openings 26 at near itsupper end portion and is also provided with a plurality of openings 21at near its lower end portion, and these openings serve as vent meansfor the circulation of air through the tubular handle and past theloosely fitting bullet I 8 which insures a constant current of airwithin the handle, and also permits of the flow of the chemical when thegrenade is crashed.

The device is arranged to be suspended in either a vertical orhorizontal position and for this purpose, a pair of eyelets 28 and 29are provided. These eyelets are secured to the upper and lower portionsH and I2, respectively, of the container l0 and when the fireextinguisher is suspended in a vertical position, the eyelet 2B isemployed and when suspended in a horizontal position, both eyelets 28and 23 are employed.

In its operation, assuming the fire extinguisher is suspended in eithervertical or horizontal position, the' heated air circulating around andwith in the handle l6 through openings 26 and 21 thereof, will subjectthe thermo-responsive element 23 to the heat so that when thepredetermined degree of heat is attained, element 23 will beautomatically released from strap l9 and bullet ill will be given animpetus under the tension of spring 24 to crash the grenade i5. Whencrashed, the chemical within the grenade will fiow into the handle 16and out of openings 26 and 21 and the overfiow of the chemical will fiowaround the upper struts or straps 12a provided in the lower portion I2of the container l0.

Assuming now that a fire has started in a place other than where thedevice is suspended, it is then only necessary to release the fireextinguisher from its suspension and by grasping the handle I6, it maybe thrown with considerable force on the fire and the impact will crashthe fragile material and cause the chemical to fiow outwardly thereof.

Assuming that the fire extinguisher has been thrown on the fire and theforce, of the impact does not crash the fragile material containing thechemical, the thermo-responsive element 23 will then be subjected to theheat produced by the fire and when the proper degree of heat isattained, it will be released to cause the bullet l8 to be carried bythe impetus of spring 24 to crash the fragile material of the grenade l5and cause the flow of the chemical to thereby extinguish the fire.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the grenade is seated in acup-shaped portion 3| which .is provided with an integral tubular handle3la. A plurality of straps or struts 32 formed to conform with the shapeof the grenade [5a, and with their free ends butt-welded or otherwisesecured to the cup-shaped portion 3|, are arranged to provide with thcup-shaped portion, a rather loose fitting space for the grenade I 5a.In order to insert the grenade, one end of one of the struts 32 isdetachable and is arranged to be attached to the cup-shaped portion 3|to retain the grenade in position.

When inserting the grenade, the strut or'strap 32 provided with ahook-like portion 34, is bodily sprung outwardly to permit of theinsertion of the grenade I 5a and when the grenade is inserted, thisstrut or strap is then moved inwardly against the side wall of thegrenade, which brings its hook-like end portion 34 aligned with thecompanion hook 35 formed to extend outwardly of the cup-shaped portion3| and to which the hook-like portion 34 is attached. When the hook-likeportion 34 is engaged with the companion hook 35, the free end of thehook 35 may then be forced inwardly to form a lock to prevent theaccidental removal of this strap 32 when attached to the cup-shapedportion 3|.

As thus far described, it will be noted that the grenade l5a is now lnposition within the struts or straps 32, but is loosely fitting betweenthe top portion of these straps or struts 32 and the cup-shaped portion3|, and in order to securely and rigidly retain the same, a grippingmeans comprising parts 33-38 is provided. These parts 33-36 comprise aneyelet 33 which has an integral threaded shank 33a that is threaded intothe upper portion of the struts or straps 32 and serves to retain themin position at their top ends, and to the free end of the threadedportion 33a of the eyelet 33 is a cup-shaped disk 36 forming anadjustable cap to rest against the topend of the grenade 15a. In orderto securely retain the grenade l5a in position, it is only necessary toturn the eyelet 33, which threads its shank 33a through the struts orstraps 32 and causes the cup-shaped disk 36 to increasingly force thegrenade l5a downwardly into the cup-shaped portion 3! until the propertension is obtained and at which time, the grenade I So is securelyretained in its container.

In Fig. 6, it will be noted that the hook-like portion 34 of the strutor strap 32 forms an interfitting lock with the companion hook 35, sothat an upward pull thereon will not loosen the same and also, when thefree end of the hooklike portion 35 is bent inwardly, the strut 32 andhook-like portion 34 thereof will be securely retained in position.

It will be noted that while the fire extinguisher is of the automaticand manual type, the thermoresponsive and crashing means are positivelycontained therewith so that perfect assurance-of cracking or crashing ofthe grenade may be had under all conditions and is not solely dependentupon its impact when thrown. Further. the thermo-responsive means iscontained within the handle thereby protecting it from accidentalbreakage or release while the extinguisher is being handled.

An extinguisher constructed in the manner above described, gives to theuser a perfect grip by which to hold the extinguisher and, as theportion containing the chemical is relatively of greater weight than thehandle portion held, it is possible to attain a considerabl whip to theextinguisher while throwing the same and it may be thrown acomparatively great distance depending upon the strength of the user. Byproviding means for holding to throw the extinguisher, the user may be asafe distance away from the fire and from which distance, he may throwthe same to extinguish the fire.

I claim:

l. A fire extinguisher of the character described, the combination witha fragile grenade containing a, volatile chemical, a separable containerfor the grenade formed to provide a handle on one end thereof, and agrenade crashing and thermo-responsive means contained in thehandle,said means comprising a bullet arranged for longitudinal movements inthe handle, a cap having an opening therein and secured in the handle inspaced relation with the end thereof, a U-shaped strap engaging thebullet and extending through the opening in said cap, a spring.

surrounding the strap and interposedbetween the bullet and cap, andfusible'solder secured to the free ends of the strap reieasablyretaining posed between the bullet and cap, fusible solder.

secured to the free end of the strap and retaining the bullet, cap,spring and strap as a unit insertible in the handle, and means forconnecting the cap to the handle.

3. A fire extinguisher of the character described, comprising incombination with a fragile grenade containing a volatile chemical, acontainer for the grenade formed to provide a handle, means within thehandle for automatically breaking the grenade,-said means comprising agrenade striking member, a support, a spring between the striking memberand support, and thermo-responsive means engaging the support andholding the spring under compression, said striking means, support,spring and thermo-responsive means being pre-assembled as a unitinsertible in the handle, and means securing the support to the handle.

4. A fire extinguisherof the character described, comprising incombination with a fragile grenadecontaining a volatile chemical, acontainer for the grenade formed to provide a handle and a plurality ofprojecting straps surrounding the grenade, means for automaticallybreaking the grenade, said means comprising a grenade striking member, aslotted support, a coiled spring between the striking member andsupport, and

thermo-responsive means extending through the slotted support andholding the spring under compression, said striking means, slottedsupport, spring and thermo-responsive means being pre-assembled as aunit insertible in the handle I from either end of the handle, and meanssecuring the support in the handle adjacent one end of the handle.

WILLIAM L. ROESSNER.

